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Ultraman Ace (series)
|Urutoraman Ēsu}} is the 5th show in the Ultra Series, and it contains 52 episodes. It was aired on the Tokyo Broadcasting System from April 7, 1972 to March 30, 1973. Synopsis Yapool, an ancient interdimensional creature tries to conquer the Planet Earth with his army of monsters called Choju. The newest member of the Ultra Brothers, Ultraman Ace, arrives on Earth to aid humanity in the battle against Yapool. Touched by the sacrifices of Seiji Hokuto and Yuko Minami, he revives them and grants them the Ultra Rings, which allows them to transform into Ultraman Ace in times of need. Production At this time, the Ultra Series was facing direct competition from series such as Kamen Rider. This caused Ace to start shifting from a sci-fi/mystery adventure to full-tilt superhero fantasy fare. Also, all previous Ultraman like Ultraman, Ultraseven, Ultraman Jack (from Return of Ultraman) and also with Zoffy make more frequent appearances here, whereas they only made guest appearances in the previous show Return of Ultraman. In addition to this, the writing became darker, slightly less episodic, and far more intense, as Ace struggles against the forces of Yapool, the first big bad of the entire franchise. Civilian deaths are more frequent, and monsters are often killed in extremely gory ways, although there is not as much death as would come two years later, with the advent of Ultraman Leo. Ace is also notable because it introduces the first female host to the franchise, Yuko Minami. Unfortunately, gender prejudice of the time caused backlash against Yuko, forcing the producers to have her written out of the show. It also introduced the concept of recurring antagonists, with Yapool being the major villain. Characters TAC *Seiji Hokuto *Yuko Minami *Noriko Mikawa *Goro Ryu *Ichiro Yamanaka *Tsutomu Konno *Kozo Yoshimura *Kaji Yoichi Umezu Family *Dan Umezu *Kayoko Umezu Ultras *Ultraman Ace *Ultraman *Zoffy *Ultraseven *Ultraman Jack *Father of Ultra Antagonists *Yapool Kaiju/Seijin *Verokron *Chameleking *Vakishim *Garan *Giron Man *Aribunta *Brocken *Alien Metron Jr. *Doragory *Muruchi II *Gammas *Zaigon *Alien Antira *Unitang *Sabotendar *Baraba *Ace Killer *Ace Robot *King Crab *Cowra *She-Devil *Hotarunga *Black Pigeon *Android Couple *King Kappa *Zemistlar *Aprasar *Space Mask *Black Satan *Giant Yapool *Mazaron Man *Mazarius *Yojo *Alien Orion *Sphinx *Alien Hipporito *Lunaticks *Undergroundmon *Gitagitanga *Red Jack *Baktari *Coakes *Bad Baalon *Kaiteigagan *Dreamgillas *Soundgillar *Machless *Namahage *Snowgiran *Alien Fire *Firemons *Alien Steal *Kaimanda *Shishigoran *Iceron *Woo II *Fubugirara *Onidevil *Gasgegon *Daidarahoshi *Hanzagiran *Verokron II *Univerlages *Aquarius *Alien Revole *Signalion *Geegon *Alien Simon *Jumbo King Cast * : * : (1-29, 39 & 52) * : * : * : * : * : * : (1-3, 5-14, 27, & 31) * : * : (29-43) * : Voice Actors * : Voiced by * : Voiced by Mahito Tsujimura * : Voiced by Osamu Saka (episodes 5 & 35), Goro Naya (episode 5 grunt), Masao Nakasone (episodes 5, 13 and 26 grunt), Osamu Ichikawa (episode 13), Keisuke Yamashita (episode 23) * : Voiced by Osamu Saka * : Voiced by Keisuke Yamashita (episode 13) * : Voiced by Masao Nakasone (low-pitch grunts), Tetsuya Kaji (speaking voice) * : Suit Actors * : (1-2) & * : (1-12, 25-39, 41-47), (13-24), (48-52), (41-42) Music * **Lyrics: Kyōichi Azuma **Composition: Masahiko Aoi **Artist: Honey Knights, Misuzu Children's Choral Group Home Media A Malaysian DVD was released in 2014. It contains a Cantonese/Chinese dub, English subtitles, Chinese subtitles and Malay subtitles. Mill Creek is also set to release the complete series on May 12, 2020, under the Steelbook and Blu-Ray releases. File:Pa.188110.1.jpg|Ultraman Ace Complete DVD Box Ultraman ace dvd.PNG|Ultraman Ace VGB DVD UltramanAceSteelbookMillCreek.png|Mill Creek's Steelbook Release UltramanAceBlu-RayMillCreek.png|Mill Creek's Blu-Ray release Trivia *Ace was originally going to be titled Ultra A, but was renamed when Tsuburaya discovered that title was already copyrighted. The fact that Ultra A was renamed Ultraman Ace is important, because it established that Ultraman would be the title of all the heroes to come after, as opposed to just Ultra. **Up till this point, Ultra had been the title, not Ultraman, as indicated by the name of Ultraseven. (Ultraman Jack had originally intended to be an updated design of the original Ultraman, and had not been given his name yet) **This would have meant that Ultraman would be the only Ultra with the title of Ultraman, and all the others would be known as Ultra -- like Ultraseven. It is unknown what this would have meant for Ultraman Jack. *This is the first series to introduce a being of light that is not part of the Ultra Brothers, that of course being Father of Ultra, the Supreme Commander of the Space Garrison. *This the first Ultra Series which contains a preview of the next episode at the end of the episode. External Links *[https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ウルトラマンA Ultraman Ace] at Japanese Wikipedia *[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraman_Ace Ultraman Ace] at Wikipedia ja:ウルトラマンA id:Ultraman Ace (seri) Category:Series Category:Productions Category:Ultraman Ace Category:Shows Dubbed in English Category:Showa Series